May is mental health awareness month: With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, a recent survey by Monster of the latest report assessing workplace mental health trends found about 59% of workers say their job harms their mental health at least monthly. More specifically, 10% say their job negatively impacts their mental health daily. Meanwhile 22% report the same experience a few times a week, and 27% report feeling negatively impacted by their work a few times a month. This experience of lowered mental health isn’t just about anger or temporary frustration. About 46% of workers report feeling burnt out, with 59% adding that they feel stressed on a daily basis.  Burnout expands beyond the exhaustion we typically associate with the term to a range of other symptoms and experiences that can cause an employee’s condition to deteriorate. About 39% experience anxiety symptoms, 37% have trouble sleeping, 34% suffer from headaches and physical pain, while 25% experience symptoms of depression. A workplace mental health crisis awaits the workforce if changes aren’t made to operations today. Visit the ASE Workplace Wellness Resources page for numerous mental health resources. Source: The HR Digest 5/16/26

Filing for Green Card: New rules require filing out of country: Most Green Card applicants will need to go abroad to apply for permanent residency at an American consulate, rather than filing from within the U.S. as they do now, the Trump administration announced. Under the new policy, most foreigners – from tech workers to spouses of U.S. citizens – would need to prove they have “extraordinary circumstances” to apply for permanent residency within the U.S., or else risk being denied. Most would need to go abroad to apply at a U.S. consulate, where they risk losing whatever legal status they held in the U.S. and being unable to return. The change marks a shift in how the U.S. immigration system has functioned for decades and will affect immigrants in the country illegally as well as foreign professionals sponsored by U.S. companies. The new approach would particularly affect the millions of immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally but gain legal status either by marrying a U.S. citizen or having U.S. citizen children sponsor them once the children turn 21. If an immigrant without legal status leaves the country, they could face anywhere from a three-year to a lifetime ban on returning. Source: Wall Street Journal 5/22/26

Is HR out of step about their own salaries? While HR professionals are instrumental in setting salary for other workers, recent data suggests expectations for their own roles may conflict with what’s offered. HR pros on average expect to make $133,322, while the average salary offered is $90,725, making for a $42,596 gap, according to data collected by recruiting site JobLeads. The gap varies depending on the HR role, JobLeads found. Those in strategy and management had the biggest gap in expectations versus reality (a $50,635 gap), while generalists had a slightly smaller gap ($48,838). Those in services had the smallest gap ($44,509). HR overall had a larger expectation gap than the U.S. average, which fell at $33,332. This is a “particular irony” given the hand the HR pros play in setting salary for other roles, JobLeads said.  Source: HR Dive 5/1/26

Are employees making living wages? Just 51% of full-time workers make enough to meet their families' basic needs — a 5-percentage point drop since 2021. The Dayforce survey also reveals a widening gender gap and major disparities by race. Disparities across demographic groups and regions remain significant, and in many cases are widening. Men are significantly more likely than women to earn a living wage, with 59% meeting that threshold compared to 44% of women. Since 2021, the gender gap in access to living wages has widened by 1.1 percentage points. Disparities by race and ethnicity are even more pronounced than those by gender. Just 31% of Black workers and 33% of Latino workers earn a living wage, versus 60% of white workers. The share of Black and Latino workers earning a living wage has declined by nearly 7 and 6 percentage points, respectively, since 2021. The living wage data used in this analysis comes from the Living Wage Institute. It provides county-level estimates of what a full-time worker needs to earn to cover basic household needs. Those costs include things like childcare, food, housing, health care, transportation, broadband, personal care, household goods, civic participation, and payroll taxes. Source: EBN 5/6/26

Employees are skipping employer-sponsored programs and benefits: Castlight Health's 2026 Employer Health Benefits Experience Survey shows a widening disconnect between the benefits companies offer and what employees actually use. These findings come despite continued significant investment in digital health and well-being programs. According to the survey, which polled around 2,000 U.S. employees, only about one-third clearly understand what benefits are available or use them regularly. More than half use at least one consumer health or wellness app, and 46% pay out of pocket for solutions that feel more relevant or easier to use.  61% spend at least $100 annually, with nearly a third topping $500 and 15% spending up to $1,500. According to the survey, employees want greater flexibility in their benefits, and it influences retention. More than 80% said they'd be more likely to stay with an employer that offers a flexible wellness allowance. Employees between the ages of 18 and 34 are most likely to use digital health tools and subscribe to fitness and mental health apps. Older employees — mostly those age 55 and up — typically prioritize solutions that support management of chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and musculoskeletal care. Source: EBN 4/28/26

To provide or not provide GLP-1 coverage: While nearly 7 in 10 companies cover GLP-1s for weight management, that share is expected to fall next year, according to the results of a survey released by the Business Group on Health, a healthcare policy advocate for employers.  Of those offering the coverage, only 72% said they were likely to do so in 2027, and 10% said they likely wouldn’t, the survey found. Companies without the coverage are unlikely to add it.  Employers are worried about containing rising healthcare costs, and nearly 8 out of 10 surveyed said GLP-1s are driving up their spend. To manage costs, many companies put in place guardrails “to ensure the appropriate use” of GLP-1s to manage weight, the survey found. These include checking clinical eligibility using objective biometric data, mandating participation in a weight management program, limiting prescribing to certain providers, and excluding certain medications from the formulary. However, even these requirements don’t do enough to ease “cost pressures” on some companies’ healthcare budgets, per the survey, which included responses from 105 employer members of the Business Group on Health fielded in February and March.  Source: HR Dive 5/7/25